The next book down in the pile was an old musty copy of An Introduction to Conrad that I had found at the Mattapoisett library book sale last summer. Here is what I found on page 123:

But for me all the East is contained in that vision of my youth. It is all in that moment when I opened my young eyes on it. I came upon it from a tussle with the sea – and I was young – I saw it looking at me. And this is all that is left of it.

These sentences are from Joseph Conrad’s Youth which is an great sea story of a young man’s right of passage. It’s a story that we use to explore leadership during youth sail training programs. You can download a free copy of this and many other Conrad classics from Project Gutenberg. Since you read this blog, I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s short, so read it.